News

Kenan Extends His Championship Lead In Fine Winning Style

Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) took his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R to a clear race win at theMoscow Raceway and in doing so extended his championship lead. His team-mate SheridanMorais was fourth.

This was Kenan’s third race win of the 2012 season, his sixth podium and these results have taken him 33 points ahead of the new second place rider, Jules Cluzel, whom he beat by 5.022 seconds in today’s 22-lap race. Sofuoglu and Cluzel headed the field almost all race long, with another championship challenger Sam Lowes jump starting, taking a ride-through penalty and then finishing 12th. Lowes is now two points behind Cluzel.

Morais was in great form once he got into his stride, his strong bike set-up and overall performance allowing him to claw back some places he lost in the early laps. Fourth was Sheridan’s second best finish of the year, just one place from his podium result of third at Motorland Aragon in July.

Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) was sixth today and is in fourth place overall, ten points behind Lowes and 45 from Sofuoglu.

MSD R-N Racing Team India Kawasaki rider Florian Marino was a battling 14th after suffering a heavy fall in practice for this round and Dan Linfoot, his team-mate, was one place out of the points in 16th.

Romain Lanusse (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) was luckless today in falling, as was Joshua Day (GoEleven Kawasaki). Lanusse is 16th overall, Day 22nd.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “I feel pretty good right now because in the past few races I have had a pretty big problem with my knee but in the end today I won the race. We had a nice race here and it was good to win at this track. I am really enjoying it and I hope to race here more often because the track is really nice for a motorcycle and I have loved it since the first lap. We did a nice race and I am very happy with my team and my bike, with everything. I knew Cluzel would be behind me because his pace is always good in the race, but I knew my bike was good and I think we had a little advantage. In the championship it looks like Cluzel may be the only one to fight with me because he is the only one constant at the moment. But it is nice to have strong competition.”

Sheridan Morais: “A good race for us. My start was not bad, a good start actually, but in the first few laps I just rode into a few people and made a lot of mistakes, so I lost a lot of time. By the time I was up into - I think eighth or ninth place - the front guys were just gone. I knew I had my work cut out there but I pushed and pushed to try and get a podium but I just did not have enough. A podium was just too far away but Leonov rode really well. I caught him really quick but he was able to hold a good pace and well done to Kenan up front as well. I am happy with my weekend considering that I thought I was going to be bit tired after being sick for a while now. I was really happy with my bike and my team. In the race me Kenan and only a couple of other guys’ front tires looked quite good, but most of the other guys’ tyres were worn, so our team did a good job with the set-up.”